Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Digable Planets, K.B.'s Alley When Jazz Meets Hip-Hop

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore the musical style of jazz and identify its elements while listening to hip-hop recordings. They select two styles of music and fuse them together in this lesson.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Draw Me the Music

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners explore and investigate the foundation and history of jazz music. They listen to various pieces of music while creating drawings, develop a timeline of jazz history, and read and discuss biographies of famous jazz musicians.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The History of Rock and Roll: Part 6 - My Generation - Lesson 2

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners identify musical characteristics of baroque, jazz, and psychedelic music. They arrange traditional music into the style of baroque, jazz, and psychedelic music.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America Music In America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study early New Orleans Jazz music and recognize Louis Armstrong as an early jazz artist. They recognize the elements and roots of Jazz.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music Styles

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars identify many genres of music and connect styles of music with various cultures. They watch "The Greatest TV Moments: Sesame Street Music A to Z" and list music styles: folk, jazz, rock, etc.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changes of Musical Elements in Popular Music Through the Decades

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners probe samples of European classical, American jazz, and rock and roll to analyze the similarities and differences. The styles and form of these three types of music are examined for tempo, timbre, and rhythm.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In My Dream

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students listen to recordings of early jazz and identify examples of ostinato and syncopation. They discuss important personalities from jazz cultures and take a quiz on aspects of jazz.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ella Fitzgerald

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald. They participate in a matching game, explore an Internet website, and write in response to Ella Fitzgerald's music.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Smithsonian Jazz Class: Benny Carter

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students play "Benny's Match Game" to learn about the life and career of Benny Carter. Students listen to samples of Benny Carter's music and create written responses that evaluate his music.
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Sting

For Students 5th - 9th
In this music worksheet, students read an excerpt from the movie The Sting and identify the American composer, Scott Joplin, who found ragtime jazz music heard in the movie. They also respond to eight questions related to the excepts read.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Blue Jazz Scale

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students engage in a study of music that includes the Blue Jazz scale. They listen to pieces of music in the targeted style while becoming familiar with the scale. Students then describe how the scale is built and demonstrate by playing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hearing the Poetry of Langston Hughes Through the Sounds of Jazz

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students have an appreciation of Langston Hughe's poetry and his use of jazz rhythms, have the ability to read poetry closely, and freewrite to gain a fresh perspective on music and literature.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Jazz Talk Show

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students analyze and describe music while connecting it to history and culture. They gain experience in theatre arts skills and writing. They use the Internet to do research in order to find out the most about this subject.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Just a Closer Walk with Thee, Dirty Brass Band

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Young scholars investigate the music played by New Orleans brass bands in funerals. The two distinct moods, sad and happy, utilized in the songs are identified and applied to other music selections.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz: An Expression of Cooperation - Lesson 3

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students describe ways in which the principles of students or citizens working together are interrelated with those of musicians working together. They demonstrate their knowledge of the concept of "swing" in various jazz styles.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz: Expression through Improvisation

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students watch a video on improvisation. They improvise original melodies over given chord progressions. They develop criteria to evaluate the merits of improvisational performances and apply the criteria in their personal listening and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz: An Expression of Democracy

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students watch a video segment about the distinguishing characteristics of jazz. They describe those characteristics and the relation between the culture of jazz and democracy. They improvise simple rhythms and melodies.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Women in Jazz

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students watch a video: "VH1 Millennium Jazz Festival From The White House" to become familiar with prominent women in jazz. They discuss the vocally oriented nature of jazz and the contributions made by women on and off stage.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Romare Bearden

For Teachers K - 12th
Students examine and discuss a collage by the artist Romare Bearden. They analyze the impact of jazz on art, listen to jazz, and create an original collage.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Baltimore's Jazz Legacy

For Teachers 4th
Explore Marylanders, Eubie Blake, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, and Chick Webb.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Learning the Blues

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson plan introduces students to the blues. The origin and development of the blues is explored as well as its distinctive structure.
Handout
Other

Down Beat: Albert Ayler

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed article containing the following sections: biography, discography, photos, and news articles about Albert Ayler.
Handout
Other

Down Beat: Cecil Taylor

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed site containing information in the following sections: photos, biography, and archived news articles about avant-garde pianist/composer Cecil Taylor.
Handout
PBS

Pbs: Biography of Dizzy Gillespie

For Students 9th - 10th
This PBS biography about trumpeter and jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie includes photos, multiple audio features, and links within the text to other famous musicians.